Quarterbacks Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles, Alex Smith of the San Francisco 49ers and Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears were all replaced in their games Sunday after being concussed, and the NFL’s new head injury safety rules were put to the test.

In 2011, after Cleveland QB Colt McCoy returned to a game after suffering a concussion, the NFL initiated a new screening/testing regimen that has already come under fire because players like Detroit wide receiver Calvin Johnson returned to a game in Week 4 after suffering two hits in the game. Somewhat similar to Tate this week, Johnson and his team beg to differ as to whether he was concussed, even though the receiver said this past week he experienced nerve damage from the hits.

The NFL has to get its house in order, with a huge class action suit involving more than 3,600 former players — alleging the league has been remiss in dealing with the health and safety of its players — slowly working its way through the courts.

In the same week these incidents once again put head injuries under the spotlight, it interesting that the NFL Network has hired veteran correspondent Andrea Kremer to be their new health and safety reporter, with the concussion issue to be one of the main topics on her beat.

In Canada, the CFL is also under scrutiny after Tate’s comments during Sunday’s playoff victory, when the QB told TSN at the half: “I got hit in the head. I don’t remember the first half.” He then compounded it by repeating to reporters after the game: “I got my bell rung. I don’t remember the first half.”

Now the QB and the team are in spin mode, with Tate attempting to clarify his comments, saying: “I got dinged in the second quarter and there was some fuzziness on that drive, but I obviously knew what I was doing and had no problems. By the time I got to the sideline and talked to everyone, I felt fine.”

Tate shrugged off his original comments, saying he really meant that he wanted to forget the first half due to how poorly his team played. This selective amnesia is a joke and should be treated as such.

While the team has said that Tate passed all concussion tests at the half “with flying colours,” the team and player clearly want to move past it and on to the next game. But the whole incident and the twisted words and subsequent backtracking by player and team show clearly that more work needs to be done on the issue.

SHOCK JOCKS INDEED:Uttering death threats is clearly not a good tool for career advancement and Dean (Boomer) Molberg of Calgary’s Fan 960 is the second radio announcer in two months to make what could be a very costly mistake. Last Wednesday, in the lead-up to the Saskatchewan Roughriders-Calgary Stampeders playoff game, he joked that he hoped the Riders’ plane crashed and several specific players died as a result. Molberg apologized online and on the air Thursday, but has now been suspended until after the Grey Cup.

The Molberg incident follows a similar one from October where a Columbus, Ohio, radio jock Scott Torgenson tweeted he hoped former NFL player Desmond Howard would die due to his dislike of his commentary on ESPN. He deleted the tweet and apologized, but was eventually fired for his death wish.

WHEN SHOULD WE WORRY?:Or perhaps a better question, can someone let me know when I can start to care again?

Despite the stutter-step NHL lockout negotiations, it seems as though every columnist in the world is mindful of the fact the 2004-5 season didn’t get cancelled until February, with the message being that now is not the time to panic. That said, I am definitely feeling some lockout coverage fatigue.

The Hockey Hall of Fame ceremonies have provided something of a respite from the not-so-secret meetings that lead nowhere and the painful requirements of understanding obscure business terms like HRR (hockey-related revenue). The only good piece of knowledge is that if a deal gets done, it will likely happen quickly, following a huge breakthrough, or more likely, a complete capitulation by one side.

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